BC-AP Americas Digest

July 25, 2014

TOP STORIES:

IMMIGRATION OVERLOAD

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is summoning Central American leaders to the White House to discuss the influx of young immigrants from their countries to the U.S., hoping to show presidential action even as Congress remains deeply split over proposals to stem the crisis on the border.

With:

IMMIGRATION OVERLOAD-HONDURAS — The Obama administration is weighing giving refugee status to young people from Honduras as part of a plan to slow the influx of unaccompanied minors arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, White House officials say. By Josh Lederman and Julie Pace.

AP Photo.

EXECUTION DRUGS

ST. LOUIS — The third problematic execution in the U.S. in six months offers more evidence for the courts that lethal injection carries too many risks and amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, death-row lawyers and other opponents say.

AP Photos.

AVIATION’S BAD WEEK

WASHINGTON — Nearly 300 passengers perish when their plane is shot out of the sky. Airlines suspend flights to Israel’s largest airport after rocket attacks. Two airliners crash during storms. Aviation has suffered one of its worst weeks in memory, a cluster of disasters spanning three continents.

AP Photos, video.

UNITED STATES-MYANMAR

WASHINGTON — The top-ranking Republican senator issues a strong call for Myanmar to amend its constitution to allow opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to run for president and for the military to submit to civilian rule.

ARUBA-VENEZUELA-OFFICIAL DETAINED

BOGOTA, Colombia — Authorities in Aruba arrest a close confidant of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who was sent as that country’s consul to the Caribbean island despite being sanctioned by the U.S. government on charges of drug trafficking. By Joshua Goodman and David McFadden.

TRINIDAD-WILDLIFE POACHING

KINGSTON, Jamaica — A judge in Trinidad & Tobago has aggrieved conservationists by dismissing charges against a couple who were found with 55 protected animals caged at their home amid a no-trapping, no-hunting moratorium in the Caribbean nation. By David McFadden.

BUSINESS & FINANCE:

EARNS-VISA

FOSTER CITY, California — Visa Inc. says its profit climbed 11 percent in its fiscal third quarter versus a year earlier, aided by solid growth in payments volume, service revenue and transactions.

AP Photo.

CHIQUITA-TERROR PAYMENTS

MIAMI — A divided U.S. federal appeals court throws out claims potentially worth billions of dollars against produce giant Chiquita Brands International made by relatives of thousands of Colombians killed during years of bloody civil war.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT:

FILM-WOODY ALLEN

UNDATED — Throughout his long career, Woody Allen has been fascinated by magic, a theme he’s explored frequently onscreen: playing a magician in “Scoop,” sending Owen Wilson on time travel in “Midnight in Paris,” or pulling Jeff Daniels out of a movie screen in “The Purple Rose of Cairo.”

AP Photos.

COMIC-CON WATCH-MALKOVICH-CUMBERBATCH

SAN DIEGO — John Malkovich and Benedict Cumberbatch each made their Comic-Con debuts — as themselves and as their first animated characters. The two actors were in San Diego to offer an early look at DreamWorks Animation’s “Penguins of Madagascar,” a sequel to 2012′s “Madagascar 3.”

AP Photos.

SPORTS:

BILLS FUTURE-TORONTO

BUFFALO, New York — A Buffalo Bills prospective ownership group that includes rocker Jon Bon Jovi has conducted a feasibility study into buying the National Football League franchise and building a stadium in Toronto, a person close to the situation said.

AP Photo.

BRAZIL-SOCCER BUMS

RIO DE JANEIRO — Lucas Bazan Pontoni was among 160,000 Argentines who flooded into Brazil for the World Cup. The tournament ended nearly two weeks ago, but Pontini is still here, eating at a soup kitchen, hanging out at a park and sleeping under the stars. With “not a cent” to his name, the 23-year-old is among a legion of Argentines who seem to have neither the money nor will to go home, worrying Brazilian officials. By Jenny Barchfield.